Help
Sign In
david beckham
March 2008 
Are Metrosexuals an Evolutionary Step Forward?
Posted on Aug 6th, 2006
by 
WH
WH
[Cross-posted from the Integral Relationhips pod.]
I've resisted the whole metrosexual thing, especially here in Tucson where any man who doesn't shave with broken glass must be gay. Yet, I use skin cream to limit wrinkles, use gel in my hair, am generally well-groomed, am getting in-touch with my emotions, prefer actual art to posters of beer girls, and all kinds of other things that have been identified as metrosexual. So, maybe I am one of these new-fangled men.
[Note: While metrosexual has traditionally referred to both gay and stright men, the term in common usage seems to denote straight men who appear gay in terms of grooming and “sensitivity.”]
What I'm wondering, from an integral/SDi point of view, is if this new “breed” of man is an evolutionary step up the ladder, a movement toward embracing more of an emotional, sensual, sensitive self that has generally been lacking in many males. Granted, there does seem to be a deep narcissistic streak in the metrosexual defintion, which would put it on the pathological side of the “sensitive self” stage.
From what I can gather, most of these guys still enjoy sports (but would rather not smell like a locker room after a game of hoop), still enjoy women (but don't treat them as sex toys), and are more inclined to be bi-sexual or have had same-sex experiences (living more in the middle of the gay/straight spectrum).
One of the best known examples of metrosexualism is David Beckham: married to Posh Spice, soccer superstar, prone to wearing make up or skirts, and all around stud.
What do you all think about the metrosexual “craze”?
I've resisted the whole metrosexual thing, especially here in Tucson where any man who doesn't shave with broken glass must be gay. Yet, I use skin cream to limit wrinkles, use gel in my hair, am generally well-groomed, am getting in-touch with my emotions, prefer actual art to posters of beer girls, and all kinds of other things that have been identified as metrosexual. So, maybe I am one of these new-fangled men.
[Note: While metrosexual has traditionally referred to both gay and stright men, the term in common usage seems to denote straight men who appear gay in terms of grooming and “sensitivity.”]
What I'm wondering, from an integral/SDi point of view, is if this new “breed” of man is an evolutionary step up the ladder, a movement toward embracing more of an emotional, sensual, sensitive self that has generally been lacking in many males. Granted, there does seem to be a deep narcissistic streak in the metrosexual defintion, which would put it on the pathological side of the “sensitive self” stage.
From what I can gather, most of these guys still enjoy sports (but would rather not smell like a locker room after a game of hoop), still enjoy women (but don't treat them as sex toys), and are more inclined to be bi-sexual or have had same-sex experiences (living more in the middle of the gay/straight spectrum).
One of the best known examples of metrosexualism is David Beckham: married to Posh Spice, soccer superstar, prone to wearing make up or skirts, and all around stud.
What do you all think about the metrosexual “craze”?
Access: Public
If metrosexualism is a ‘craze’ I think it’s a sustainable one.
I also don’t see it as an emergent so much as something that emerged a long time ago (we mustn’t be trapped in the myth of the given… hehehe) and has not been allowed to flourish due to limiting worldview/value structures (on an individual and collective scale - inhibitive values housed by oneself would cause repression of what could possibly considered a more natural (for some) immersion in the world, and inhibitive values could create external oppression (which is often converted into internal repression anyway)).
But I could be wrong about this, because while those statements hold true for innate sexual orientation, metrosexualism is a whole different matter.
The questions become:
Is metrosexualism more typological than level-specific?
Is a general move to more acceptance (in a collective worldview structure sense) causitive of it’s broader acceptance/prevalance due to the fact that individuals feel more comfortable with their natural selves or does metrosexualism go hand-in-hand with the emergance of the sensitive self and is in fact a whole new self to come to terms with as a result of development?
Hmmm… cool. Thanks for sharing, man.
I don't think metrosexuality is anything new. There were dandies and fops in most eras; I was reading a review this morning of a restoration comedy being put on at the university close to where I live and the descriptions of the powdered wigs and high heels donned by the male cast members would put any NYC metrosexual to shame. I tend to be more skeptical of the current craze; to me it seems more commodified and fueled by corporatism than anything else. I certainly have no problem at all with men wanting to take care of themselves - I appreciate Beck's abs as much as the next red-blooeded female - and frankly am thrilled by anything that allows individuals to feel more comfortable expressing their truest selves, but what I see in the metrosexuality craze is vanity and homogeneity, not fitness/health and true self-expression.
But perhaps I'm being too critical. Again, anything that bucks typical gender roles is a plus in my book. I just wonder about the implicit conformity in these movements.
Siona, I agree with both sides of what you're saying – I'm all for things that buck traditional gender roles – and I also see metrosexuality as an aspect of rampant consumerism. It used to be that women spent huge amounts of money on the latest in makeup, hair color, accessories, etc. – now both sexes are doing it – seems like a waste in a lot of ways, as well as a way to keep people wrapped up in life's superficialities
I agree that (1) metrosexuality is largely a marketing ploy at this point – making men feel the need to spend $$ on grooming, and (2) that there have always been effete men, and (3) that anything that gets men to move beyond traditional gender roles is a good thing.
Well, you know what they say about great minds. ;)
Weird, the second half of what I wrote this morning got cut off somehow.
Anyway, here is the rest of what I wrote (sort of):
Having agreed with those points, I still think there is something else going on. Mostly what we are seeing is (1) a lower right quadrant (exterior-collective) effort in the form of marketing to convince men to buy more personal care products, (2) men being more concerned about appearance and and grooming (upper right quadrant – exterior-individual), and (3) a secondary acceptance of “softer” interiors that match the “softer” exteriors of men (interior-collective, lower left quadrant). All of this seems to be leading to some upper left quadrant (interior-individual) shift in male interiors developing a senstive self – but this lagging behind the other quadrants.
I'm wondering how we can plant some seeds to create more change in the interiors and less focus on the exteriors, which is certainly where the media is focused on metrosexuality. David Beckham is held up as the ideal of the trend, but he is a self-obsessed master of promoting himself.
Brondu asked: does metrosexualism go hand-in-hand with the emergance of the sensitive self and is in fact a whole new self to come to terms with as a result of development?
I am hopeful that this is what is happening. Right now it is happening almost exclusively in the exterior quadrants - lets move it to the interiors as well.
it's my opinion that the “planting of seeds” needs to be done by men – any woman who tries to do this is going to be accused of trying to change men so they're more like women